Martin Jones steals Game
5Sharks live to fight another day with 4-2 win in
Pittsburgh

6/9/16 - By Mike Lee -

In order to win the Stanley Cup, you need to be
good, you need to play above yourself and you need to be a little lucky. The
Sharks were all three on Thursday night, winning Game 5 with a 4-2 nail biter
over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center. San Jose finally looked
like their playoff selves, jumping out to a quick lead, and battling after
Pittsburgh tied the game to overcome a bit of adversity. Martin Jones turned in
a game for the ages, stopping 44 shots to force the series back to San Jose on
Sunday.

It was simply another 'do the opposite of what they expect
performance' by the Sharks who weren't ready to go quietly into the night. In
fact, they did exactly the opposite. With thousands of fans circling the arena
hours before the game, preparing for a celebration had the Penguins won, but
San Jose spoiled the party by doing the opposite of what everyone expected them
to do.

This band of Sharks regulars don't exactly have the best track
record when it comes to facing adversity, so it was easy to expect them to roll
over and call it a season. Had they packed it in, nobody would have given it a
second thought. They're the Sharks, that's what they do. Except the team
decided it wasn't ready to quit playing this season.

The Sharks jumped
on the Penguins just 64 seconds into the game. Brent Burns turned on the
offense by carrying a puck around the back of the net from right to left,
before carrying the puck out to the bottom of the left circle, pivot, and snap
a shot past Matt Murray for his 7th goal of the post season. The goal was a
carbon copy of Joonas Donskoi's overtime winner in Game 3.

San Jose
shocked everyone by extending their lead less than 2 minutes later. Justin
Braun fired a puck from the right post that seemed destined for Murray's glove,
but Logan Couture clipped the puck with the shaft of his stick to disrupt the
trajectory. The puck flipped end over end over the top of Murray's glove for
the 2-0 Sharks led. It was Couture's 9th goal of the playoffs, which extends
his points lead among all players during the Stanley Cup Playoffs this spring.

Just when you thought the Sharks might finally cruise in a game, the
Penguins decided to make a go of it.

Sharks forward Dainius Zubrus
aided the Penguins by flipping a puck over the glass to draw a delay of game
penalty at the 4:21 mark of the period. The Penguins capitalized on the man
advantage when Evgeni Malkin banked a shot off Braun's left skate to halve the
Sharks lead at 2-1. Malkin was setup at the bottom of the right circle and
appeared to try and make a pass through Braun, but the took a 90 degree right
turn into the goal after deflecting off Braun's skate.

The Penguins
tied the game 22 seconds later when Nick Bonino scooped up a Brendan Dillon
turnover and threw it at the front of the net. Penguins forward Carl Hagelin
was cutting across the top of the crease right at Bonino's shot arrived. The
puck hit Hagelin before deflecting past Jones for the 2-2 tie.

Rather than roll over from their misfortune, the
Sharks buckled down and answered with 5:13 remaining in the period. The Sharks
swung the puck around the perimeter after kicking it out of scrum from behind
the Penguins net. Brent Burns received the initial feed, before whipping it
along the blueline to Dillon on the left point. Dillon spotted Couture heading
toward the left post, so he snapped a feed down low. Couture saw Melker
Karlsson cutting down the slot and made a touch backhand pass to his linemate
for a quick one-time chance. Karlsson's shot hit the bottom of Murray's glove
before bouncing into the goal for the 3-2 Sharks lead.

At that point
it looked as if both teams might combine for a bucket full of goals each, but
Jones went to work.

He stopped the final 42 shots he faced, including
the final 11 in the goal-fest 1st period. The Sharks netminder stood on his
head in the 2nd period, stopping 17 shots in the frame, including a crucial
stop on Bonino from the doorstep with 4:54 remaining in the period. Jones had
the presence of mind to extend his left leg, stopping Bonino would be goal.

A slashing call on Karlsson provided with the Penguins with a golden
opportunity to knot things up again, but the Sharks survived an onslaught of
shots. San Jose killed 2-of-3 Penguins power play chances.

The Sharks
would bend but not break. Pittsburgh was relentless on offense generating
another 14 shots in the 3rd period. The Sharks provided their goaltender with a
bit of a reprieve midway through the frame by shifting the pressure into the
Penguins zone with a sustained forecheck that seemed to frustrate Pittsburgh.

Hagelin provided more relief with just under 6 minutes left in
regulation when he hooked Donskoi on a sharks scoring chance in front of
Murray. San Jose didn't score on the power play, but it took the pressure off
Jones and killed valuable time off the clock.

The Penguins pulled
Murray for an extra attacker with 1:20 to play, but Sharks captain Joe Pavelski
turned the tables on that effort by scoring an empty-net goal shortly after
Murray made his way to the bench.

With 80 seconds still on the clock,
the Penguins tried to make one last push, but it was too little, too late.

Crosby tried sticking his nose in the Sharks crease with 4 ticks left
on the clock and he was met by a Marc-Edouard Vlasic slash across the arm for
his trouble. festivities. The Penguins expressed his displeasure with the lack
the unwavering adulation that everyone in Pittsburgh showers on him. Vlasic no
doubt offered to send flowers after the series was over in the scrum that
ensued.

Vlasic and his teammates escaped Pittsburgh to live another
day, and spoiled what would likely have been a grand party given the throngs of
people that were parked outside surrounding the rink.

Game
Notes:

* In a show of organizational unity, the Sharks flew all the
wives of their players out to Pittsburgh to attend the game. In what could have
possibly been the last game of the season for San Jose, it was a simple gesture
that scored owner Hasso Plattner a few good will points with players.

* Logan Couture was a man on a mission. In addition to his goal, the centerman
had a pair of assists, 5 shots on goal, 3 hits and blocked shot. Couture was
also en even 9-for-18 from the faceoff circle.

* Joe Pavelski paid the
price in the 3rd period by blocking a Kris Letang shot with his forearm.
Pavelski took treatment right on the Sharks bench, getting the arm wrapped
before returning to action.

* Even with the relatively low scoring
games throughout the playoff run for San Jose, they still lead all playoff
teams in average goals scored per game at 3.22. Pittsburgh is second at 3.04.

* In what might be the biggest stats oddity of the playoffs, the
Sharks rank 13th of the 16 playoff teams in average shots per game at 27.1 per
game. Amassing shots has been a staple in San Jose over the years, but they've
preferred to be selective with their shot selection. The Penguins rank 3rd with
35.2 shots per game. The Florida Panthers averaged 39.2 shots per game from
their brief 6 game stay this post season.

* In waht shouldn't be a big
surprise to anyone, the Sharks rank last in faceoff efficiency, winning 47.6 of
their draws. The Los Angeles Kings won 54.5% of their draws...all against San
Jose.

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